‘Jersey Shore’ Fans Get Nostalgic Over the Way Sammi ‘Sweetheart’ Giancola Got to Seaside in Season 1
Before you could plug an address into your phone, there was MapQuest. The way finding site allowed users to type in their destination and print directions out on good old-fashioned paper. Jersey Shore star Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola once used MapQuest to navigate to Danny Merk’s Seaside Heights home. Now, nearly 15 years later, fans are marveling at how Sammi made it to the beach to film Jersey Shore.
‘Jersey Shore’ fans get nostalgic over Sammi ‘Sweetheart’ using MapQuest
Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi might have struggled to find the beach, but Sammi “Sweetheart” wasn’t messing around. In the first episode of Jersey Shore, she’s consulting MapQuest directions to get to the iconic shore home.
“Rewatching Jersey Shore and loving that Sammi says she doesn’t want to get lost and is using printed out Map Quest papers for directions!!” said one fan on Reddit. “The good ol’ days haha. Used these for plenty of trips back in the day.”
“And before MapQuest, we had to plot our courses on preprinted fold-out street maps!” another Reddit user said in the thread. At publication, the MapQuest site is still up and running.
The house the ‘Jersey Shore’ cast stayed in is available to rent
Merk’s home is still available to rent if you’re interested in staying where the MTV magic happened. Whether you’re using a modern method of way finding or you want the Sammi “Sweetheart” experience, you can find the Jersey Shore house at 1209 Ocean Terrace in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
According to Seaside Realty, fans can book their stay starting at $2,800 per night. The house sleeps up to 12 people and comes with all of the amenities fans know and love from the MTV series, including the duck phone. However, the rooftop deck is not included with your stay.
The house from ‘Jersey Shore’ is available for tours, too
If you’re operating on a budget, you can take a tour of the Jersey Shore house for significantly less than what it costs to stay there. For $10 and 10 to 20 minutes of your time, you can see where the show’s iconic moments took place, including the “Smush Room” and the table where many Sunday Dinners took place.
When the tour is over, fans can shop at Merk’s Shore Store for Jersey Shore-inspired merchandise. Consult the Shore Store’s Facebook page for more information on booking a tour.
What did Sammi’ Sweetheart’ Giancola do after ‘Jersey Shore’?
Since Jersey Shore ended in 2012, Sammi has gone on to become a small business owner. What started as an online boutique — Sweetheart Styles — has become a brick-and-mortar store on the Ocean City, New Jersey boardwalk. Sammi opened Sweetheart Coast, which is located at 1356 Boardwalk in the Jersey shore town, in the summer of 2021.
Unlike her former castmates, Sammi did not return for the spinoff Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. When the show started in 2018, she said she wanted to avoid “potentially toxic situations,” which made sense given her ex, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, was part of the show. Now, she’s a small business owner and social media influencer.
